1838. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xxiv., p. 192. ‘In the
confidence that our fellow-towsmen have not lost that high
appreciation of public utility and private worth, for which they
have long been so pre-eminently distinguished, we predict that this
charming actress will be greeted with a bumper.’
3. (cards’.)—When, in long whist, one side has scored eight before the
other has scored a point, a bumper is the result.
Bum-Perisher, Bum-Shaver, subs. (common).—A short-tailed coat; a
jacket. [From bum, the posteriors, + perisher, a slang variant of that
which ‘perishes,’ or fails to protect (from cold, etc.).] Cf., Bum
curtain.
Bumping Race, subs. (University).—Eight-oared inter-Collegiate races,
rowed in two divisions of fifteen and sixteen boats respectively,
including a sandwich boat (q.v.), i.e., the top boat of the second
division, which rows bottom of the first. The boats in each division
start at a distance apart of 175 feet from stern to stern in the order
at which they left off at the last preceding race, and any boat which
overtakes, and bumps another (i.e., touches it in any part) before the
winning post is reached, changes place with it for the next race.
Bumpkin, subs. (old).—A humorous term for the posteriors.
1658. [In Nares] Wit Restored.
And so I take my leave; prithee, sweet Thumkin,
Hold up thy coats, that I may kisse thy bumkin.
Bump-Supper, subs. (University).—A supper to commemorate the fact of
the boat of the college having, in the annual races, ‘bumped’ or
touched the boat of another college immediately in front. Cf., Bumping
race.
Bumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Arrogant; self-sufficient; on good terms
with oneself. [Murray puts this down as a formation from bump on the
model of ‘fractious.’ It is of recent introduction.]
1803. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary and Letters, vi., 324. No, my dearest
Padre, bumptious! no, I deny the charge in toto. [M.]
1849. Dickens, D. Copperfield, ch. vi., p. 53 (C.D.). I heard that
Mr. Sharp’s wig didn’t fit him, and that he needn’t be so
‘bounceable’—somebody else said ‘bumptious’—about it, because his
own red hair was very plainly to be seen behind.
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xiii. It was all very well
while he was fresh, and having things pretty much as he liked. So
long he was bumptious enough.
Bumptiousness, subs. (colloquial).—Self-assertiveness; arrogance;
self-conceit. [From bumptious (q.v.) + ness.]
1865. Sala, Trip to Barbary, p. 150. Poor Albert Smith, than whom,
with all his occasional bumptiousness, an honester and more
clear-sighted hater of snobbery and shams never lived.
Bum Roll, subs. (old).—A pad or cushion worn by women to extend the
dress at the back—an equivalent of the modern bustle or dress-improver.
[From bum, the posteriors, + roll, in the sense of pad or cushion.] At
one time these were called cork rumps, but for synonyms, see Bird-cage.
1601. Ben Jonson, The Poetaster, II., i. Nor you nor your house was
so much as spoken of, before I disbased myself from my hood and my
farthingal, to these bum-rowls, and your whale-bone bodice.
1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, Old Plays, XI., 460. Those
worthies [of a bawd] rais’d her from the flat petticoat and
kercher, to the gorget and bum-roll.
Bumsquabbled, ppl. adj. (American).—Discomfitted; defeated; stupified.
Cf., Bum-fiddled, in first quot.
1620. Fletcher, The Chances, I., v. And am I now bum-fiddled with a
bastard?
1835–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 251 (ed. 1862). No sooner
said than done, Mount Sheer Bullfrog gave the case in our favour in
two twos, said Eyetaliano had got too much already, cut him off the
other two-thirds, and made him pay all costs. If he didn’t look
bumsquabbled it’s a pity.
Bum Sucker, subs. (general).—A sponger; toady; lick-spittle; hanger-on.
[From bum + sucker, allusion obvious.] Cf., Bum. A French equivalent is
une lèche-cul.
Bum Trap, subs. (old).—A bailiff. Cf., Bum-bailiff.
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VII., ch. iii. The noble bum-trap,
blind and deaf to every circumstance of distress, greatly rises
above all the motives to humanity, and into the hands of the jailor
resolves to deliver his miserable prey.
Bun, subs. (American).—1. A sponger; one who cannot be shaken off.